Silver Valley: Couple remembered by Civitan club

Wednesday

The Silver Valley Civitan Club held a memorial meeting May 14 honoring the late Luther B. Pope, 88, and his wife, Ola Mae Arnold Pope, 84, who both passed in March.

Honored guests were their sons, Dale and Tony Pope, and their families including 2-month old great-grandson Wesley Patterson.

The Pope couple was described as kind, caring, thoughtful, humble and compassionate people. Luther was known for witty sayings. One of his frequent retorts was, “I feel good all over. If I felt any better I couldn’t stand myself.”

Born June 8, 1929, Luther was reared on a farm in the Hasty community during the Great Depression and was only 16 years old when World War II came to a close. An older brother, Clayton, died in B-24 Bomber crash in Italy during the war. Despite these hardships he always had a positive outlook on life.

For years Luther’s phone answering system carried the message, “May your cup of joy overflow and fill up your saucer.” People were known to call just to hear the message again.

Ola Mae also grew up on a family farm on what is now Old Highway 64. She was born Oct. 22, 1933, to Irving and Ola Arnold in the Tabernacle community of Randolph County. Ola Mae’s mother passed a couple of hours after giving birth.

Ola Mae’s uncle and aunt, John and Bettie Arnold, immediately took her in and raised her as their own. With her two families Ola Mae had nine sisters and three brothers although The Pope’s were married Christmas Eve 1955 in the Cid (United) Methodist Church Parsonage in the Silver Valley community. They lived in an area near the Hasty and Wallburg communities of Davidson County until moving in 1964 to live at Ola Mae’s home place with her ‘mama,’ Bettie Arnold. A few years later they built their home next door.

They sang country and gospel music as a duet in their younger years performing for two years on WTNC-AM radio in Thomasville in late 1950’s. Later they perform many times at church and Civitan functions.

Luther grew up in the Baptist church and graduated from Piedmont Bible College in 1966. The couple were members of Ola Mae’s longtime family church, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church on Old Highway 64 at the Davidson and Randolph County line. They were active in many church activities.

Luther was a certified as a Lay Speaker by the United Methodist Church. He served in various church leadership roles including chair of the administrative board, Sunday School superintendant, president of the Methodist Men and many years as a teacher. An adult class has been named the Pope-Green class for many years.

Luther B. Pope is considered one of the most valuable members of the Silver Valley Civitan Club. He joined in December 1966 and served until his health would no longer allow him in the late 2013. Pope was a member 47 years, longer than any other person and served three terms as president.

Luther was best known for serving as chaplain and newsletter editor for multiple years. He served more than 16 times as the club chaplain and one term for North District West Civitan in 1988-89. The district governor at the time was fond of telling other Civitan governors that ‘The Pope’ was his chaplain.

He also was editor of the Bulletin for at least 26 years over a 30 year period, 1977 through 2007. His humor and his ‘Chaplain’s Corner’ led the way to many district awards for the newsletter.

Luther Pope was a lieutenant governor (1995-96) for Area Five East composed of clubs in Randolph and Davidson Counties.

He was presented The Club Honor Key, the highest club award, in 1987. Other accolades include being elected by the members as the Distinguished Civitan award recipient three times and selected as the Area Distinguished Civitan in 1985.

A display of memorabilia and DVD of Pope family photos preceded the program. A meal was enjoyed by the 34 people in attendance. President Stephanie Tucker presided with Gary Arnold providing family and club history. Other Civitan members speaking were Chaplain Joyce Parrish, the Rev. Chris G. Smith, Harold Parrish, John Hughes and Chad Montgomery. Dale and Tony Pope shared remembrances of their father.

Celebrate marriage

I want to congratulate my son, Patrick Coppley, and his new bride, Lilly, on their marriage this past Saturday . Best Wishes to the bride and groom!

To report news of Silver Valley, call Karen Coppley at (336) 472-2507 or at KarenCoppley@yahoo.com.

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